IFFR 2007

Johnnie To

Entertaining kung fu drama about an orphan with elegant martial arts techniques, but too few social graces. In a clumsy attempt to please his foster parents, he gets on the wrong side of the local underworld.

Film Maker in Focus: Johnnie To

The Bare-Footed Kid

The law that says a sequel never lives up to the original doesn’t apply in this case. If part one looked as if it couldn’t be trumped, part two does so. Frighteningly real world of gangsters who are so cool they change the climate with their chilling characters.

Election 2

The whole of criminal Hong Kong turned upside down because of a stick with a dragon’s head. Choosing a new gang leader at one of the gangster strongholds gets completely and skilfully out of hand. Better gangster films don’t get made.

Election

The Enigmatic Case

A group of gangsters finds refuge on Macau where no one is then safe. When the celebrated filmmaker could afford to, he founded his own production company called Milkyway. In order to make the films that only he could make. This is the ultimate Milkyway film. To all the way.

Exiled

What a gangster film. Hit men caught up in a gang war. A stylised, pure exercise in the genre film. Hard in a way that makes it fun.

A Hero Never Dies

Broke the box offices 25 years ago all over Asia and is still funny and virtuoso. With Stephen Chow, the most talented comedian in Hong Kong. He plays a lawyer who doesn’t always win his cases honestly. His wife wants to force him into a more honest profession.

Justice, My Foot!

Human heroes in this beautiful firemen’s film. They do make mistakes occasionally. Sometimes they save the wrong person, but together they eventually cope with the most dangerous of jobs. With breathtaking scenes of saving people in a sea of fire.

Lifeline

Love on a Diet

A well shot, fantastically acted crime film that is far from superficial. A grubby cop who is mainly interested in women and drink gets a bullet in his head. It helps him to get a different angle on life.

Loving You

Masterful crime film in which the Filmmaker in Focus doesn’t tolerate any other crime filmmakers alongside him. Five very different gangsters from different gangs get a joint job to protect an important gangster.

The Mission

Wai Ka-Fai

Catchy comedy about love and gossip on the work floor. It deservedly became a big hit. Sharply directed and based on a clever scenario. With Andy Lau on form playing opposite Sammi Cheng, who was made a star by the film.

Needing You

PTU stands for Police Tactical Unit. A team of hardened cops that makes the streets of Hong Kong safe and sometimes unsafe. Police action film made with a master’s hand about a detective who loses his pistol. Unforgivable.

Arnold Schwarzenegger really pumped up his muscles for it, while Hong Kong star Andy Lau put on a smart suit, but the result is the same: swollen bodies do well in the comic action film. In addition this one has a serious Buddhist side.

Running on Karma

Law Wing-Cheong

A sequel to a film with enchanting action scenes that is even more enchanting and has even more action. With a very skilful thief in the hands of a very skilful director.

Running Out of Time 2

Entertaining thriller with no less than two great Hong Kong stars: Andy Lau and Lau Ching Wan. About the cat and mouse game between a police negotiator and a master thief. A film about revenge, but what was there to avenge?

Running Out of Time

The master of crime films and crazy comedies is apparently also able to tell beautiful social stories. A single father gets further and further into debt when he starts gambling and borrows from the wrong people.

The Story of My Son

Action film with a  dizzying cinematographic ingenuity and catchy sense of humour. About a rundown nightclub owner with the crazy idea of robbing gangsters.

Action film with a combat sport that is not very popular in Hong Kong: judo. Alongside dizzying cinematographic ingenuity, <strong>Throw Down</strong> displays a catchy sense of humour. In this story about the rundown nightclub owner with the crazy idea of robbing gangsters, Johnie To expresses his admiration for the Japanese master Kurosawa.

IFFR 2025
30 Jan – 9 Feb 2025